Pencils Down

"We just talked about it again last week," Brent recalled.

Tony said, "Aw, we've come this far, let's go in."

Since the porch was about five feet off the ground and there were no steps, Tony boosted Brent up first and then was able to get up by bracing his foot on the support under the porch and a hand from Brent, since he was much taller.

Once on the porch, they walked toward the dark open doorway, past a small clouded window, where all they could see was the light coming from the fireplace in the dark inside. If they really wanted to see anything, they would HAVE to go inside.

They crept through the doorway. Floor boards creaked and then they heard sounds of a creature scampering through the house. Before they could speak, SOMETHING whooshed past them in the dark so fast that it felt like a gust of wind.

Unable to move, Brent screamed, "What was that!"

Once they recovered, the boys ambled a few steps back to peek out the front door. Were they relieved to see that the "creature" was Tony's dog, Duke, who was sitting behind the bushes at the corner of the house.

"Duke, how did you get out of the backyard?" Tony asked as Duke ran back to the porch.

Tony and Brent laughed nervously and so hard that they had to sit down to keep from falling because their legs were so wobbly. It was hard to tell who was more relieved ­ Duke, Tony, or Brent. Tony grabbed Duke, who had jumped back on the porch, and hugged him while Duke licked his face.

Remembering why they were at the house, the friends got up and darted back inside the musty and creaky house, with Duke trailing. As they inched nearer the old fireplace, a board gave way and Tony's leg crashed through the rotted floor. "Help!" yelled Tony, amid the sounds of the cracking of the boards splintering.

Brent stooped to see how he could help Tony out. He knew they couldn't pull Tony's leg out without hurting him because of all the jagged edges of boards. Brent bent down to examine the situation.

Tony pleaded, "Come on, Brent, get me out of here!"

"I'm trying. Just wait a minute until I go outside and maybe get a look under the house to see what's around your leg," Brent responded impatiently. With that, he ran outside, jumped off the porch and scurried to the side of the house to search for a place near where the leg was dangling. There were spaces where bricks were missing and Brent might be able to see Tony's leg. He put his face up to an open space, but it was much too dark to see. He moved farther down the side of the house where there was an even bigger hole. He could barely see the leg, but he couldn't get under the house to help from underneath.

Using an old washtub found at the side of the house, Brent stood on it to get back on the porch and to Tony. Tony spoke, "What are we going to do?"